Suppose you usually employ impeccable project management techniques to stay on top of all the details of your work. But maybe, just this once, in spite of your best intentions on making progress on a project, other factors have gotten in the way.
While the big five thousand pound weight of not staying on top of the project has not fallen on your head yet, it seems like it will soon.
You just do not know when.
If you are in that position now on a project, or think you may be in the future, it is good to know what project management techniques you can use to come from behind.
14 Project Management Techniques to Come from Behind
Take Short Cuts
- Look for nice-to-have steps or deliverables you can eliminate.
- Prioritize the aspects that you can most easily complete with the biggest relative impact on the project.
- Simplify expectations.
- Take advantage of work you have previously done that can be used or adapted.
- Take advantage of forms and structures you have previously done that can be used or adapted.
Reach out for Help
- Invite others to help you jumpstart or accelerate progress.
- Create examples or templates that others can follow.
Manage the Clock
- Negotiate for more time.
- Schedule dedicated time blocks to work on it.
- Figure out what small pieces you can break off and make progress with in very small chunks of time while you are waiting for other things to progress.
Attack the Project Differently
- Figure out a different order of steps that could work better and faster than how you would typically approach things.
- Make a fast pass through the entire project that is more than an outline but involves less time than a typical first draft or prototype.
Make Your Progress Clear
- Create an artifact to give some tangible form to your progress.
- Create an outline or checklist of activities to monitor your progress.
There’s a starting list of project management techniques to try.
Pick what might work for you, and get started coming from behind! – Mike Brown
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